Topps and Panini spread holiday cards across formats

Topps and Panini have detailed their holiday baseball and football products for 2026. The range includes daily calendars, tins and ornament-style boxes, with exclusive cards tied to each format.

Topps Holiday Baseball spans Mega boxes, hobby tins and Advent calendars. Football collectors have Topps Holiday, Panini Mangaverse and an Absolute calendar, with different checklists and box contents.

Topps spreads baseball cards across holiday formats

Topps Holiday Baseball has a 200-card base checklist mixing rookies with veterans. The holiday series began in 2016, and its 2026 lineup adds metallic Gingerbread man and Snow Days parallels.

Hidden elves also appear on cards, with 5 elf variations for each card. Other variations change the card backs and come in SP and SSP forms.

Mega boxes contain 10 packs, each holding 10 cards. Each box includes an autograph, a relic or a Chrome base card, plus an oversized Christmas tree ornament topper.

As of November 3, 2026, the expected Mega box price was $29.99. The hobby tin format carried an MSRP of $44.99, while the Advent calendar had a suggested price of $59.99.

The tin configuration contains 177 cards across 3 packs or tins of 59 cards. Each tin includes 6 exclusive Holiday Lights parallels. A candy cane design appears on its die-cut ornament insert.

The Advent calendar contains 24 packs. Its exclusive cards include Chrome Plaid parallels and Making the Nice List die-cuts.

Rookie subjects include pitcher Jacob Misiorowski and first baseman Munetaka Murakami. Cam Schlittler also appears among the rookie cards with string lights and snowflake designs.

Topps brings candy cane borders to football

Topps Holiday Football uses a candy cane border with Christmas ornaments and stars. Fernando Mendoza appears in the rookie lineup, including a Dear Santa patch autograph card.

The autograph checklist has 200 subjects, including over 50 rookies. Chrome versions cover the veteran and rookie base cards.

Snow Globe Moments places football stars inside a snow globe design. Deck the Fields uses snowy backgrounds, while Holiday Spirit variations feature white backgrounds and Christmas imagery.

Elves appear on football cards, too. Wrapped gifts form the backdrop for Rookie Holiday Spirit variations.

Topps plans both hobby and retail versions of Holiday Football.

Mangaverse uses manga art and ornament boxes

Panini’s debut Mangaverse Football release uses art inspired by Japanese manga and graphic novels. Its 100-card base checklist brings together college names, current professionals and retired stars.

Mike Singletary, Lawrence Taylor and Adrian Peterson are among the former football stars pictured. Insert themes include Origin Story and Murals, alongside Way of the Warrior.

Hobby boxes have 6 packs with 6 cards apiece. Each box includes 6 inserts, plus 1 autograph and 3 numbered parallels. Blank Slate and Starcade are hobby-exclusive SSP inserts.

Retail versions use ornament-style boxes and include exclusive bronze, red and green parallels. Each retail box contains 3 inserts, 2 exclusive parallels and 1 Winter Wonderland insert.

Absolute puts football into a daily calendar

Panini’s Absolute Football calendar pairs NFL veterans and retired stars with college football subjects. Quarterbacks on the checklist include Dante Moore, Julian Sayin and Trinidad Chambliss.

The calendar covers 24 days, with a 3-card pack behind each daily opening. Its configuration works out to 72 cards per calendar.

Each calendar includes 24 inserts or insert parallels and 1 Holiday Suit Memorabilia card. Base White Snow and KABOOM! parallels are part of the lineup.

What to do

• Check which Topps Holiday Baseball format a listing offers. The calendar has exclusive Chrome Plaid cards, while tins include Holiday Lights parallels.
• Compare a Mangaverse listing’s box details with its format. The hobby configuration includes an autograph; retail boxes include a Winter Wonderland insert.
• Confirm whether a Topps Holiday Baseball price is a seller’s asking price or the suggested figure before comparing checkout totals.

Related: Hobby vs retail sports card boxes, Sports cards news.